World News Roundup: Heavy fighting as Russian troops enter outskirts of Sievierodonetsk; Nepal finds nearly all victims of a plane crash and more

Russia has concentrated its firepower on the last major population centre still held by Ukrainian forces in the eastern Luhansk province, in a push to achieve one of President Vladimir Putin's stated objectives after three months of war. Nepal finds nearly all victims of plane crash Nepal authorities on Monday recovered or located the bodies of all but one of 22 people who were on board a plane that crashed into a Himalayan mountainside on Sunday, officials said, and the government has formed a panel to investigate the incident.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Heavy fighting as Russian troops enter outskirts of Sievierodonetsk

Russian troops have entered the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, the regional governor said on Monday, describing fierce fighting over the ruins of a city that has become the focus of Moscow's offensive. Russia has concentrated its firepower on the last major population center still held by Ukrainian forces in the eastern Luhansk province, in a push to achieve one of President Vladimir Putin's stated objectives after three months of the war.

Nepal finds nearly all victims of a plane crash

Nepal authorities on Monday recovered or located the bodies of all but one of 22 people who were on board a plane that crashed into a Himalayan mountainside on Sunday, officials said, and the government has formed a panel to investigate the incident. Two Germans, four Indians and 16 Nepalis were on the De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter aircraft which crashed 15 minutes after taking off from the tourist town of Pokhara, 125 km (80 miles) west of Kathmandu, on Sunday morning.

Some protesters freed in Sudan after emergency law lifted

Sudanese authorities freed several dozen political detainees on Monday though others remain jailed, a lawyers' group said, a day after Sudan's military ruler announced the lifting of the state of emergency imposed after an October coup.

The releases included 24 people connected to the anti-military protest movement in Port Sudan, and another 39 in or near the capital, Khartoum, said the emergency lawyers' committee, an activist group.

Colombia leftist Petro goes to the second round with businessman Hernandez

Colombian leftist Gustavo Petro came out on top in the first round of the Andean country's presidential election on Sunday and will face a surprise contender - businessman Rodolfo Hernandez - in a second-round on June 19. Petro, a former member of the M-19 guerrilla movement who has vowed profound economic and social change, had 40.3% of votes, national registry office tallies showed, with 99.9% of ballot boxes counted.

Shanghai city to lift lockdown restrictions on June 1

Shanghai authorities will lift the city's two-month-long lockdown from midnight on Wednesday, allowing private cars including taxis back on to the roads and people to freely move in and out of low-risk housing compounds. Bus and rail transport will also resume basic operations from June 1, including a ferry that connects districts separated by the city's Huangpu river, the Shanghai city government said in a statement on its official WeChat account

EU to agree on Russia oil ban in principle, but at odds over practice

European Union leaders are set to agree in principle to ban oil imports from Russia at a summit on Monday and Tuesday in Brussels, but after weeks of haggling they will leave decisions on how it will work for later, diplomats said. "We're going towards a deal on a sixth package of sanctions," French President Emmanuel Macron said as he arrived at a meeting of centrist leaders ahead of the summit.

In Bolivia's silver mountain, artisanal miners turn to coca and the devil

Next to one of Bolivia's poorest cities lies one of the richest silver mines in the history of mankind - Cerro Rico, Spanish for 'Rich Mountain - a once-legendary source of wealth for the Spanish Empire that is now being dug out by artisanal miners. The miners - independent workers who labor in dangerous conditions in dark and poorly-ventilated tunnels - live off what they earn from the scraps of silver they find in Cerro Rico, which is slowly sinking and collapsing onto itself.

China, Pacific islands unable to reach consensus on regional pact

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday urged the Pacific region not to be "too anxious" about his country's aims after a meeting with his counterparts from 10 island nations deferred consideration of a sweeping trade and security communique. Wang hosted the video meeting with foreign ministers from Pacific island nations with diplomatic ties with China midway through a tour of the region where Beijing's ambitions for wider security ties has caused concern among U.S. allies.

Kremlin eyes political prize in rubble of Ukraine's Sievierodonetsk

The capture of a sleepy Soviet-era factory town in Ukraine's industrial heartland has become the focus of Russia's invasion as President Vladimir Putin seeks to rebuild momentum after a failed attempt to take the capital Kyiv. If Russia can capture Sievierodonetsk, and its smaller twin Lysychansk on the higher west bank of the Siverskyi Donets river, it will hold all of Luhansk, the first of the two Donbas provinces that Putin has placed at the heart of his campaign.

Ukraine war hits Africa's most vulnerable as aid costs spike

A small charity broke ground this year on a clinic in northern Burkina Faso to care for thousands of women and children who have fled Islamist insurgents wreaking havoc along the fringes of the Sahara. But when Russia invaded Ukraine in February, global supply chains buckled and the cost of building materials, fuel and food spiked in West Africa. The charity's founder, Boukary Ouedraogo, was forced to make a tough decision: he halted construction of the clinic with only the foundations laid.

(With inputs from agencies.)